The End of Days
by Azecreth
Summary: A battle with the Borg throws Picard into another universe, very much unlike his own. But all is not well, and he will need to work with the inhabitants of this universe to fight off his most hated enemy - the Borg.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I do not own EVE Online or Star Trek. And this is my first story.

* * *

><p><strong>Stardate: 50893.5<strong>

**Location: Sector 001**

Picard watched as the Borg Sphere flew towards Earth. They had succeeded in destroying the Borg Cube that had threatened Earth, only for this thing to emerge. In his mind, the Borg gave him tantalizing hints to the nature of their plan, but he could not figure out what they were doing yet.

Data reported, "Sensors show chronometric particles emanating from the Sphere."

Picard rose from his chair as the knowledge hit him, " They're creating a temporal vortex."

Riker stood up beside him, "Time travel."

A blue spherical hole appeared in front of the Borg Sphere as the chronometric particles tore a hole in the fabric of space-time. Waves began emitting from the hole itself as it expanded.

Picard said, "Mr. Data, are we in phaser range?"

Data replied, "Yes."

Picard said, "Lock on and fire."

Orange phaser fire lanced out from the Enterprise and slammed into the Borg Sphere seconds before it entered the rift. At nearly the same moment, the temporal wake slammed into the Enterprise.

Riker looked around with a surprised look on his face, "Hey, nothing changed. I guess we destroyed it."

Data replied, "Perhaps not. If the timeline has been altered, we would not be aware of it, as we would have shifted timelines as well, making this our normal reality." Data looked at the sensor readings and said, "Captain, the temporal wake seems to be strengthening. It is pulling us in."

Picard said, "Helm, full reverse. Get us out of here."

The Enterprise began shuddering as the engines battle to pull the Enterprise out of the temporal wake.

Picard said, "Geordi, can you get me any more power?"

Down in the engine room, Geordi lifted his head as he responded, " I don't know, Captain. If we push it too hard, the stress from the temporal wake could tear the ship apart."

Riker said, "We don't have much of a choice. We have no idea where that rift goes. It could send us to the Earth-Romulan War for all we know."

Geordi said over the comm, "Actually, I have an idea. Once we cross over, I can modify the engines to emit chronometric particles, in essence creating our own temporal vortex to get back."

Picard, intrigued, said, "How long will it take to make the necessary adjustments?"

Geordi made some quick calculations and replied, "A day."

"I don't like it," said Riker, "We could irrevocably alter the course of history in a day."

Data chimed in and said, "Possibly, but it may also be that we have already altered history, since it has already happened, and this could be natures way of ensuring we do what we have already done. A continuity loop, if you wish."

Riker replied with a frown on his face, "I hate paradoxes."

Picard made his decision, "Alright then. Helm, take us into the rift. Mr. La Forge, begin work on those modifications once we are through."

Geordi signed off with an, "Aye, Captain."

The Enterprise ceased it's resistance, and slid silently into the temporal rift.

* * *

><p><strong>YC 116<strong>

The expulsion of two points of light from temporal rifts, in separate parts of the galaxy, heralded the end of an age, and foretold of great things to come.


	2. Chapter 2: First Contact

**Concord HQ**

Deep within the center of Concord Headquarters was a small circular room. The room was a sphere, with smooth walls, and a single door, which fit seamlessly into the wall. The room contained a single chair in the middle of the room, with a tablet in front of it. On that tablet rested a helmet, which was studded with diodes and had wired going from it to the back of the chair.

Seated in the chair was Andrey Regan. He was currently wearing the helmet, which was connected into his extensive neural network. He was one of the three people whose job was to act as the Strategic Command for Concord. He had been equipped with highly advanced neural network systems so he could communicate with the Strategic Command computer and control the massive Concord fleet.

In his vision, he was engulfed within a 3D representation of the EVE Galaxy. From where he was, he could see the location of every Concord ship, and he could track every starship within the medium and high security areas. From here, he could see crimes as they occurred and dispatch ships to the location of the crime to stop it and punish those guilt of committing the crime.

As Andrey observed the galaxy, a beacon popped up in his vision. Tapping it, he saw that the detection sensors along the Gallente-Caldari DMZ registered a ship floating in the middle of the Zone, although he could not see anything. Switching to the cameras on the nearest monitoring post, he saw a ship with a saucer shaped forward section and two nacelle type objects jutting from struts which were attached to a large lower section. Running it through his databank, he came up with the realization that this was an unknown ship. He quickly opened a channel to the head of the Inner Circle, so he could report the problem.

"Hello, this is Panaja Paukansa. This better be important, since I'm extremely busy at the moment," said Panaja as she looked at Andrey through the virtual screen, which acted as a communication medium between the two.

Panaja was seated in her office, which was fairly large, and was adorned in a neomodernistic style. There was flashy chrome combined with synthetic wood, which went well with the soft lighting from the wall posts and the large chandelier in the middle of the ceiling.

"This is STRATCOM, we have a situation in the Gallente-Caldari DMZ."

Panaja froze with shock and quickly turned her attention to the transmission from the papers she had been leafing through. "What kind of situation," she asked, with a concerned look on her face.

"About 2 minutes ago, monitoring posts in the demilitarized zone picked up the presence of a spacecraft of unknown origin. After running through our database, we can say for absolutely certain that it is nothing that we have seen before. We have no clue how they got there, and the main computer can't even detect them. If they hadn't materialized in the DMZ then we would probably have no idea that they were here." said Andrey matter-of-factly.

"Damn it," said Panaja as the implications of what he had said ran through her mind. "Get a task force there ASAP. We need to get them before they leave. If they are a ship secretly developed by one of the empires then there is going to be a lot of trouble."

"Yes madam," said Andrey, "What should we do if they offer resistance?"

Panaja replied as a beacon telling her that she had a call flashed up on her monitor, "Disable them if you can. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a call from the Caldari ambassador. Anything else is up to your discretion."

"Alright ma'am," said Andrey as he signed off.

"God give me strength, "said Panaja as she pushed the accept icon on the call from Alexei Dimitrov, the Caldari ambassador to the Inner Circle.

"Panaja, the Gallentians have violated the demilitarized zone once again. The Caldari State will not stand for this. If that ship is not removed immediately, then there will be war between us and the Gallente Federation," roared Alexei. Alexei was a man of medium stature, with brown hair, and had a slight weight problem.

"Calm down ambassador, please," said Panaja. "Our scans show that this vessel matches nothing we have in the database for the Gallentians. We believe that we may be looking at a . . . Oh no."

"What," asked Alexei nervously. "What is it?"

"Hold on," said Panaja. "I have a call on another line." Looking, she saw that it was from Damian Hawkins, the Gallentian ambassador. Bracing herself yet again, she pushed the accept button, accidentally expanding the transmission to a conference call between her, Alexei, and Damian.

"You," said Alexei angrily.

"You," said Damian at the same time.

"These continued border violations by the Gallentians are intolerable..."

"What border violations? This is obviously a plot by the Caldari to implicate us so they have an excuse to go to war..."

"What? Are you deaf man? We have nothing to do with this. It is obvious that you sent that ship there..."

"If we did indeed send that ship there, then why didn't we give it a Caldari IDF tag so we would have an excuse to go to war..."

"Gentlemen," said Panaja loudly. "Could you stop throwing accusations and let me talk?"

Both Alexei and Damian glowered at each other then turned their attention to Panaja, who had pulled up the image taken by the monitoring post so that both ambassadors could see it.

"Now, unless either of you has a secret research program that Concord doesn't know about, this would be the best time to tell me. Unless you want to start a war of course," said Panaja with fake sincerity. Neither of them responded, so Panaja took that to mean that either they did and weren't willing to reveal the fact, they didn't know that their government had started this program, or it truly didn't belong to either of them.

"Very well then. Can you both agree that it is a currently unknown civilization that has appeared before us today," asked Panaja. Both ambassadors stared at the image in a state of near shock. They both wordlessly nodded. "Good. So stop accusing each other of border violations and focus on the issue at hand. Actually, thinking about it, there is no issue. A Concord task force is en route to the DMZ as we speak to initiate contact with these unknown entities. You can watch from here on the ships camera's."

Damian shifted his eyes nervously. "Actually… I need to make a call." He cut out the transmission before Panaja or Alexei could respond.

Thinking about it, I need to make a call also," said Alexei as he ended the transmission. Panaja sat in the silence for a second, then went back to leafing through the paperwork on her desk. Now if only she could find that information request form from the Extragalactic Research Department.

* * *

><p><strong>Gallente-Caldari DMZ<strong>

The _Enterprise_ exited the rift into deep space. Before any action could be taken, the rift closed with a bright flash of

Picard commanded from the bridge, "Data, I want a full sensor sweep of the area. I want to know where we are, when we are, and who is nearby."

Data ran a quick sensor scan, and was intrigued by the results that came back, "Captain, the computer cannot identify a time period or a location. But there is the chance that the sensor scans have been obstructed by damage that we may have suffered going through the rift, or we could still be partially blinded by chronometric particles."

Riker commented, "I have a feeling we aren't in Kansas anymore."

Data replied seriously, "We were never in Kansas, sir. However, I do understand the reference to the old movie _Wizard of Oz._"

Riker sighed and said, "Data. That response wasn't necessary."

Data was going to respond, when he was alerted to something on his viewscreen, "Captain, we are detecting an unusual energy signature heading towards us."

Picard said in a concerned voice, "On screen."

Exiting form a self generated pocket, a large ship colored mostly black with a bit of white, about as large as the _Enterprise_, if not a bit larger, the ship moved into a position facing the _Enterprise_, and trained it's frontal guns on the main hull section. The ship looked like a fighter jet from old, with wings expanding from a central section on which the engines were mounted. The bridge of the vessel appeared to be at the front of the ship, and was encased in a curved armor which evened out as it moved backwards along the ship.

The communications relay was flooded with vaguely recognizable sounds that were on all the frequencies. Data sent the main computer to working out a translation of the messages while the Enterprise waited to see if the ship would take hostile action. After the computer finished analyzing the sounds, it reported to the bridge crew that the sounds were a language, and began working on a translation. After a bit of time, it finished a basic translation of the sounds, and played it for the bridge crew.

"Unknown vessel, this is Concord Command. You are in violation of the Gallente-Caldari demilitarized zone. Identify yourself or prepare to be destroyed. This is your last warning."

Picard motioned to Data as he said, "Mr. Data, open a channel." Data silently pressed some buttons on his keypad, and nodded to Picard, who stepped forward even though they did not have video communications with the other ship.

"This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the _USS Enterprise._ I represent the United Federation of Planets, and I am pleased to initiate diplomatic relations between our two nations. You do not need to open fire. We come in peace as explorers and diplomats. We did not intend to violate your rightful territory and if you could tell us how to return to Earth then we will be on our way."

The comm channel was silent for a few minutes, presumably as the people on the ship conferred with each other. Picard was on the verge of ordering the ship to warp when a response finally came, "You will be escorted to Concord headquarters. Do not attempt to flee."

Data looked at Picard, "Captain, they have transmitted over a set of coordinates. I assume they wish for us to proceed to that location."

Picard smiled and said, "Excellent observation Mr. Data. Helm; lay in a course for those coordinates. Warp Five." He turned to Riker who looked concerned by the aggressive tone of the message. "First, you have the chair. I'll be in my office. Alert me if anything happens."

Riker nodded. "Of course sir," he said as he moved to take Picard's place in the Captains chair.

As Picard exited the bridge, Worf followed close behind him, obviously wanting to say something.

"Captain Picard, I do not believe this is a wise choice. What if they mean our destruction? We should make a run for it, while we still have the chance," said Picard as he moved in front of Picard's desk.

Picard looked up at Worf as he sat down. "Mr. Worf, this is what our Starfleet mandate is about. To explore new worlds, to meet new civilizations. The mere fact that it is in as different galaxy should not be of concern to us."

"I think it does matter. We could be surrounded by enemies. Always before, we had the possibility of getting aid from Starfleet if things went wrong, but not here. And now we are blindly following a vessel which hasn't said a word more than "Identify yourself", and "Follow us."

Picard sighed, "Mr. Worf. As brusque as they may be, they have only done what I have no doubt you would have done in the same situation. We will continue on with them, at least until we get more information regarding their intent. Now, you should probably return to your duties."

Worf gave a slight frown, and turned and exited Picard's office without saying another word. Picard dwelled for a moment on Worf's reaction to what he had said, then turned his attention to making a log entry, so that when they returned home Starfleet would have a complete record.

* * *

><p><strong>Blood Raider Space<strong>

The Borg Queen bathed in the flood of information from her servants. The ship told her that it had sustained heavy damage from Locutus's phaser attack, and would need outside materials to complete effective repairs. She was also informed that Locutus himself had not followed them through the rift. It quickly became evident why he had not; as scans revealed that the ship had exited into a temporal unknown, with no discernible time period or location.

Fortunately, scans also revealed a solution to their dilemma. They had located a ship graveyard, the remnants of a large battle sometime in the past. There would be plenty of materials to repair their ship and build a combat vessel. They could also find valuable intelligence assets to help them learn of this new place.

She ordered that a course be set for the graveyard, and lapsed back into the data stream. These circumstances changed nothing. She would assimilate all life forms, and build the Collective here. That was the only option.

* * *

><p>AN: Welcome to New Eden, also known as the EVE Online Universe. I suppose this could be considered the true beginning of the story, considering that this has the first meeting between the two universes. In the next few chapters I'll be setting up the beginning of the Borg's plan for galactic assimilation, and the _Enterprise's _activities.

Sorry if I sound like a rambling idiot. This is my first time. But whatever. See you next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3: Meetings and Portents

**_Enterprise _****Bridge, near Concord HQ**

Flanked by Worf and Riker, Picard looked at the viewscreen where the leader of Concord Commands "Inner Circle" was displayed. This was Concords first communication since their initial demands for the _Enterprise _to follow them.

The trip had been uneventful, and the crew of the _Enterprise_ had tried to learn whatever they could about this new place. They had followed the ship into heavily populated space, and stellar traffic had significantly increased as they moved closer to their destination. They had also noticed an increase in Concord vessels as they moved closer to their destination. From this, they determined that it must be Concord's home planet.

Using sensor readings, Geordi had determined that Concords FTL drive worked by projecting some kind of "depleted vacuum" that was devoid of energy in any form. This had the effect of generating antifriction as a complement to normal acceleration, giving their vessels a limited faster than light capability. They had determined that their Warp Drive was more efficient, although it appeared that Concord standardly used wormholes for interstellar travel.

They had finally arrived at their destination, and exited warp to see a large amount of ships in a defensive formation around a floating spherical structure. They were currently holding position near the top of the sphere, but were not docked to it.

The woman on the screen said, "Hello, Captain Picard of the United Federation of Planets. I am Panaja Paukansa, head of the Concord Command, leader of the Inner Circle."

Picard replied, "Hello as well. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

Very seriously, Panaja said, "Now that we have dealt with the pleasantries, let's get down to business. Frankly Captain, we have no idea where you came from, and how you managed to make it into the most heavily monitored border in the galaxy with no one noticing."

Picard sighed, unsure of where to start, "We found ourselves there after traveling through an artificially created temporal vortex. The vortex must have been unstable, and instead of traveling into our past, we were sent into the future."

Panaja looked disturbed by what he had said. "Captain, we have absolutely no records of the "United Federation of Planets" ever existing. Now, our records are incomplete, since many were lost during the Fall after the collapse of the EVE wormhole."

Picard was shocked, "So, not only are we in a different galaxy, but you are saying that we may be in a different universe entirely?"

Panaja replied, " It appears that way. If the United Federation of Planets had exited, we would have at least some record of it Of course, perhaps the Jovians would know, since they were least affected by the collapse of the wormhole, but they haven't been very talkative for a while."

Realization suddenly hit Picard. It had been floating in the back of his mind, but he hadn't put the pieces together until now. Why would the Borg not show up here? Had the vortex destabilized further after they had gone through? Or where they here, somewhere in this galaxy? If they were, he had to warn them. They would be woefully unprepared for a Borg attack.

Picard said, "Panaja, I have something very important to tell you. It could affect this entire galaxy. The temporal vortex we came through was not crated by us. It was made by a race called the Borg. They are a race of cyborgs that exist in a hive mind. Their sole mission is to assimilate all life into their Collective. They have regenerative capabilities, can adapt to new weapons which render any attacks against them useless unless they have not adapted to it, and are on a technological level surpassing that of the Federation. The temporal vortex was created by the survivor from a major battle near my home planet, and the remaining Borg vessel went into it. They probably ended up here, like we did."

Panaja flicked through some papers on her desk, showing little signs of alarm. "Can you tell me anything about their vessel so we know what to look for?"

Picard said, "The Borg emphasize functionality above aesthetics. Their main ship is a Cube about three kilometers long on each side. However, you are lucky in the fact that the Borg only came through in a sphere. We assume it is some sort of escape pod, since we haven't seen that type of ship before. You are also fortunate in that we managed to damage it before it could enter the vortex. "

Picard watched as Panaja conferred with someone, or a group of people offscreen. The audio had been deactivated, so Picard could not tell what they were saying to each other.

Finally, Panaja turned her attention back to Picard and said, "We have not detected this vessel you speak of anywhere in monitored space. And we cannot expend the manpower to search all of uncontrolled space looking for them."

Picard felt a surge of anger, but he quickly suppressed it. What else could he expect after all? These people didn't know the Borg like he did. "You must find them. The longer they have to travel and assimilate technology and people, the greater a threat they will be. They must be stopped now, before they can adapt to your weapons, and learn all your tactics."

Panaja looked exasperated with the current line of conversation. "Look, send us what information you have. We'll keep monitoring, and if they appear then we will let you know."

Picard was disappointed with the decision, but realized it was useless to argue. "All right then. We will transmit the information to you as soon as we have compiled the data necessary. Now, I would like to discuss the present status of my ship and crew."

Panaja nodded and said "Of course Captain. Being Terran in nature, I have no doubt that you ship can destroy most any single spaceship that anyone can bring against you. However, I urge you to join a faction or nation. That way, people will be less likely to attack you."

Picard replied, "If you could transmit over a list of factions and description , that would be appreciated."

Panaja talked to the people off the screen again. Picard looked at Riker and Worf while presumably the "Inner Circle" was discussing their arrangement.

Finally Panaja turned her attention back to Picard. "There is one final issue, Captain. Your ship could be a valuable technological resource. It could be very dangerous if one of the empire's seized it. They could use it to get an advantage over the other empires. So we're going to make you an offer. In return for you giving us blueprints for all your technology, we will make you honorary members of Concord Command. You will have the weight of Concord behind you, but you will have no responsibilities to us."

Picard glanced at Riker, who shrugged discreetly, "I will have to discuss this with my crew."

Panaja nodded, "Of course. Take all the time you need. Concord Command out." The viewscreen flickered into black as the connection was severed.

Picard began walking away as he said, "Have Dr. Crusher, Mr. La Forge, and Councilor Troi report to the situation room for an officers meeting. We have much to discuss, don't we." Picard exited the bridge followed by Riker, Worf, and Data.

* * *

><p><strong>Executive's Office, Concord HQ<strong>

"So what is your opinion of them Andre," asked Panaja.

"Well, ma'am," said Andre as he brought up some scans of the _Enterprise_, " They definitely are an advanced race. Our scans detected around a thousand life signatures on that ship. We also found something extremely intriguing." Centering on the bottommost section of the ship between the two arms of the nacelles, he highlighted some glowing particles.

"So what am I looking at," asked Panaja.

That," motioned Andre, "is the telltale signature of some sort of antimatter reaction. We believe that their ship is powered by some sort of controlled antimatter reaction. If it's true, then this would be momentous for New Eden. Imagine it, ships that can generate their own supply of antimatter. It would revolutionize warfare. Antimatter tipped nuclear missiles, as many antimatter railgun rounds as you could want, assuming you have enough empty casings. "

Panaja's mind whirled as she thought of the consequences of this technology getting out, and her mind recoiled from the image. "My god. Think of all the people that would be killed with this improved weaponry. If a piece of antimatter the size of a dollar bill can make a 13 kt nuclear explosion, then how big would be the explosion from a piece the size of an apple? If we used this, then all our ships could become floating bombs!"

"Well ma'am," said Andre as he tried to calm her nerves, "We don't really know how efficient this type of energy system is. If you'll recall, our fusion reactors are able to use 99% of the energy they emit, with only one percent being released as neutrons. We'd have to see how this antimatter system works before considering it's usage."

"I suppose you're right," replied Panaja. "Just in case, I want their path blocked off, so no one can stumble upon them, and I want them under observation at all times.

"Yes ma'am," Andre saluted and

* * *

><p><strong>Enterprise Briefing Room, Concord HQ<strong>

In the briefing room, the heads of the departments and Worf listened as Picard explained what had happened during his discussion with Concord, and Panaja's offer.

Worf started off the discussion after Picard had finished, "I do not see why we are even having this discussion. We will be returning to our time soon, and there is no point in joining if we will not be here."

Picard sat down as he turned his attention to Worf, "Perhaps Mr. Worf, but it will be a lot easier to get back with their cooperation than otherwise. Besides, they did ask for any technological assistance we could provide them."

Worf clenched his fist and said, "And why should we give our technology to them? Are they not advanced enough already? They have FTL travel, and, they are in the future. Shouldn't we be asking them for technology?"

Riker looked at Worf, "According to the records Concord sent to us, when the EVE Wormhole to the Milky Way collapsed, they lost all their technology. Well, except for the Jovians. They've only had FTL for a few hundred years. So, in comparison to us, they aren't that far advanced. It's entirely possible that we are more advanced than them in some areas."

Geordi chimed in, "Yeah. We've already seen that our warp drive is more advanced, since they have to use gates for targeting. That shows that they only have a point-to-point drive, and they can't stop before they reach their destination, like we can. It may not be faster, but it gives us better maneuverability. Not to mention our antimatter generation capabilities."

Beverly sighed as the room descended into arguments between Worf and Riker, with Geordi and Data chiming in with technical data and observations. Finally, she became exasperated and said, "Gentlemen, please. Can we focus on what we're here to discuss? Should we give them technology or not, and should we accept their offer to join them, if temporarily."

Worf grumpily slouched down in his chair, "I still do not trust them."

Picard looked at Diana and asked, "Councilor Troi, can you sense anything form them?"

Troi closed her eyes as she grasped for the intangible feelings of emotions from the minds of the people in the nearby space station. Finally, she opened her eyes and replied, "I can sense confusion, and a bit of fear, but nothing to suggest hostile intent."

Picard nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now Geordi, what's the worst that could happen if we gave them all our technology?"

Geordi thought for a second, then replied, "They tear a hole in the space-time continuum and destroy the universe."

Picard grimaced, "Okay, so giving all our technology is a bad idea. We will decline their offer, but we will turn over the blueprints for our warp drive technology. They could probably use it." He looked over the table and said, "Move down to Condition Green, but stay on alert. Dismissed."

With the meeting over, everyone left the room, discussing their current situation. Nobody noticed Worf exiting by himself, and looked slightly angry with the results of the meeting.

* * *

><p><strong>Blood Raider Space<strong>

The Borg Queen lapsed into the information provided by the assimilated computer fragments attained from the ship graveyard. They had repaired their base vessel, and had improved it to a fully functioning combat-capable ship. They had also improved it with weapons gathered from the wreckage, once they had been repaired to exacting Collective standards.

She had learned much of the EVE galaxy that they had found themselves in. The four empires and Concord were the main threat to establishing the Collective here, and would have to be dealt with first. Fortunately, they would be busy with their petty rivalry's and minor conflicts.

But first, she would have to build up her resources and make a fleet. Looking through her records, she found a suitable place to do it. This empire called "Sansha's Nation", looked like a suitable area. Few knew of their location, and they could be easily manipulated due to their ideology.

Silently, she put the ship on a course for former Sansha Nation territory. There they would find the location of the refugee's from that nation. She delved into the stream of input from the Collective as the ship moved into hyperspace.

* * *

><p>As the Borg ship moved to enter hyperspace, a lone salvage ship entered the area. The Cube registered for a second, too short a time for it to be identified on the ship's sensors. It was the only warning the Empire's would get, that a storm was coming.<p>

* * *

><p>AN: There needs to be a little explanation about power sources here.

In the EVE Online universe, power is generated through a process called aneutronic fusion, in which only one percent of the emissions output is neutrons and the rest is usable energy. This makes it very efficient, although regular fusion power is still used.

In the Star Trek Universe power is generated through an antimatter reaction of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen. It creates enough power to allow the Enterprise to have directed energy weapons, shields, and the ability to teleport people, which must take up a ton of energy.

Up next, some fun with the Borg, and the _Enterprise _tries to return hoe, and fails. Because if they succeeded, it wouldn't be a fair fight, would it?


	4. Chapter 4: Of Blood Raiders and Borg

**YC 116**

**Blood Raider Space**

Captain Rastan strolled peacefully along the bridge of his Bhaalgorn Battleship. It was bathed in reddish light, with a utilitarian set up. The consoles were arranged in an circle around a main chair, which had it's own control console on it, and a holographic display built in. Rastan himself was a man short in stature, with a curly mustache, and a limp. He was content this day since he had just received his paycheck, and couldn't wait to get home to his wife. Fortunately, it seemed like just boring guards duty for now.

A voice rang out on the command bridge, "Captain, we are detecting a starship within our sector. We cannot identify it."

Rastan walked over and sat down in his command chair. A holographic display of the command systems flicked up in front of him. Tapping on the virtual screen, he brought up the sensor scans of the area. Indeed, there was an unusually ship in the region. Increasing the scan intensity, he could not recognize the shape of the vessel.

"Set an intercept course," he said.

On the orders of Captain Rastan, the Bhaalgorn battleship lumbered into motion, it's fusion engines hurling it towards a distant sector of space. As it moved, the crew began preparing for battle. Laser capacitors were charged up, while missiles were moved into firing positions. As the ship entered the area that the trespasser was in, the ships CPU brought it's shields up to full strength,

When the Bhaalgorn entered visual range of the mysterious vessel, Captain Rastan brought it up on the main viewing screen. There was an audible gasp as the sight of a giant cube appeared in the view screen. Reading the measurements that the ship had calculated, Rastan was amazed.

"What the hell. That thing is bigger than a supercarier." The measurements that the ship had made calculate that the cube had a volume of 28 cubic kilometers, with the width, height, and length being three kilometers.

"We better call for backup," said Rastan nervously. Calling up his communications link, he sent out a request for assistance to several ships nearby. After he was confident that the ships had received his request, he turned to his first officer. "Bring all weapons and shields online. Move to attack."

"Sir, is that a wise decision? Shouldn't we wait for the reinforcements to arrive?"

"No. we need to keep them from moving onwards. That means fighting them until the other ships get here. Yes, that thing is bigger than a supercarrier, but I don't see any weapons on it. We just need to keep it occupied with us. Keep moving, keep shooting, and we should be fine."

"Alright Captain."

"Lets do it," said Rastan calmly as the ship moved into position to begin their attack.

* * *

><p>The Borg ship dropped out of warp. It could sense a heavily armed vessel heading towards them. Scanning her newly acquired databanks, the Queen determined the vessel to be a Bhaalgorn class Battleship, used by the Blood Raider faction.<p>

White lasers lanced out from the battleship, impacting on the hull of the Borg Cube. In the Queens mind, the ship reported significant damage to the outer hull of one section of the Cube. Analysis of the attack quickly began as the collective worked to adapt to the attack from the Blood Raiders. Soon, they would learn to join the Collective, or face destruction.

The Raiders managed to get in a few more attacks with what the Collective determined to be multi-frequency lasers that varied between X-Rays, Gamma, Infrared, and other laser types before the Collective finished adapting to their attack. Regeneration of the damaged portions of the Borg ship began almost immediately.

"Deploy shield disruptor missiles," commanded the Queen.

Three glowing missiles flew from the Cube and slammed into the Bhaalgorn battleship. The shields on the battleship flickered and faded away as they were drained by the Borg technology. Aware that their shields had failed, the ship attempted to maneuver away from the Cube.

"Deploy tractor beam, "commanded the Queen.

A green energy beam reached out and grabbed onto the Blood Raider vessel as it tried to flee, preventing it from escaping. The ship stressed itself as it struggled to pull itself out of the tractor beam.

"We must take the ship intact. To rebuild the Collective here here will require the usage of all resources available to us. Deploy soldiers to take the ship, intact," commanded the Queen.

"Yes, my Queen," chorused the soldier drones in her mind.

* * *

><p>Rastan was in shock. The enemy ship had been hurt by their weapons, but somehow their weapons had stopped doing damage to them, even though there was no presence of an energy shield at the beginning of the battle. Not only that, the enemy had struck back hard, draining their shields and catching them in some sort of tractor beam that was holding them in place no matter what they did. And now he was getting reports that enemy soldiers were appearing all across the ship, even though they hadn't detected any boarding craft. It was like they were just teleporting on board.<p>

"Damn it," he muttered. He thought for a second, then began barking out orders. "All soldiers report to armory. Make these boarders pay in blood for their transgressions."

Bringing up the interior ship camera's, he watched in apprehension as his soldiers fought valiantly to stop the boarders. These boarders seemed to be human cyborgs, with mechanical parts attached to their bodies. They used peculiar energy weapons against his soldiers, who retaliated in kind with their own laser weapons. They had some early successes, but his smile turned to dismay as the enemy, which appeared to be immune to their weapons now.

"That's impossible," he muttered. He kept issuing orders, even though resistance seemed pointless in the face of this advancing enemy. Level by level fell to their attackers, and soon he realized that he was going to lose the ship."With that tractor beam thing activated, we can't evacuate the ship. Damn it." He rotated his chair to face the rest of the bridge crew. "My brothers, it has been a pleasure serving with you. Initiate the self destruct sequence."

The first officer replied with a sad look in his eye. "Yes, Captain." Together, he and Rastan entered the command codes necessary to tell the engines to begin as dangerous overload sequence. As the timer counted down, the bridge crew resigned themselves to the void.

Suddenly the countdown stopped. Rastan opened his eyes from his meditation and shouted, "What happened?" Motion resumed on the bridge as the crew checked the status of the engines, which had just failed them. It wasn't long before a response came back.

"Captain, it appears the boarders have infiltrated our computer network and disabled the self destruct sequence."

"Well, then initiate it manually," shouted Rastan.

"We can't. They've hijacked our systems and have locked us out. Our standard weapons aren't strong enough to break the shield surrounding the plasma. And the heretics are drawing closer to our engine room all the time."

"Damn it," muttered Rastan. He closed his eyes, and knew what he had to do. Opening his eyes and resigning himself to his next actions, he stepped out of his chair, pulled out his laser pistol, and fired into the control panel on the side.

"Captain, what are you doing," exclaimed the First Officer.

"Wreck everything. Do not leave anything intact for the heretics. And do not let them take prisoners."

"Yes Captain." The bridge crew began destroying their consoles and trying to delete any data they could get their hands on. Tears came to Rastan's eyes as he and his crew destroyed what they could of their beloved ship. When they were finished, they locked the doors to the bridge, and after intoning prayers to their supreme deity, the crew fired their pistols at the bridge window. The combined fire against the window cracked a hole in the window, which buckled under the resulting strain and released the atmosphere in a flood of air.

Rastan didn't feel a thing as he froze in the vacuum of space.

* * *

><p>The Queen watched through the Collective as her soldiers beamed over to the enemy vessel. The humanoids fought fiercely and managed to kill some of her soldiers, but were overwhelmed as the Borg attained invulnerability to their weapons. The queen felt her sight growing as her soldiers seized the ship. An attempt by the captain to destroy his ship was thwarted by assimilation of the computer network.<p>

Finally, the remaining humanoids were holed up on the bridge. The Borg soldiers were about to force their way onto the bridge when the window on the front of the ship exploded in a rush of escaping air, catapulting everyone on it into space. It was evident that the crew had decided to take their own lives rather than join the collective. The Queen could not fathom why they would do such a thing, but in the end it did not make a difference.

"Assimilation the ship and the remaining crew," said the Queen, "Then resume our travel towards Sansha's Nation."

While the Borg were engaged in the assimilation of the Bhaalgorn battleship that they had seized, a force of Blood Raider vessels, made up of one Bhaalgorn battleship, two Ashimmu Cruisers, and one Cruor Frigate, entered the area and moved to attack the Borg Cube floating motionlessly in space.

* * *

><p>Commodore Durock moved forward as he surveyed the situation that he had arrived in. "Damn it Rastan," he muttered as he saw that the heretic's vessel had survived. He was also surprised by what looked like another ship bearing resemblance to a Bhaalgorn, but it couldn't be Rastan's ship, could it?<p>

"Orders sir," asked his trusted first officer.

"Let's go to it," replied Durock. "Have the Cruor drain it's energy, while the Ashimmu's back me up. Fire all laser and launch all drones. Let's bring this sucker down."

Out in the vacuum of space, the Blood Raider fleet begin firing their weapons at the Borg Cube. White lasers flitted through space, impacting on the hull of the Borg Cube, while tiny drones exited the hangars of the Bhaalgorn and began firing at the Cube.

* * *

><p>Over the frequencies attained during the assimilation, the Borg Queen listened as the Blood Raider leader ordered his fleet to attack. The ships began shooting at the Borg Cube, only for their fire to fail against the Cube's shields.<p>

"Move in and attack," commanded the Borg Queen, "Assimilate them if possible. If not, destroy them."

Silently, the Borg Cube and the partially assimilated Bhaalgorn battleship moved in to attack the Blood Raider fleet. As the Blood Raider weapons fire impacted on the hull of the Cube, some drones noticed that power seemed to be leaching from the ship. The amount of power lost was insignificant, barely enough to affect operational performance at all, but this was an ability that other ships might use in the future. The process that was being employed on them was analyzed, and a prototype for a generator was designated for fabrication once this battle was over.

The Cube lashed out with it's green cutting beam at the Bhaalgorn while shield disruptor missiles fired at the two Ashimmu Cruisers. The partly assimilated Bhaalgorn attacked the drones that were flying around the Cube. The first Ashimmu cruiser vanished in a ball of flames as one of the Borg's cutting lasers sliced through it's engine core, destroying the electrical bottle that held the plasma core in place.

* * *

><p>"Damn it," muttered Durock as one of his Ashimmu Cruisers vanished in a ball of flames. This battle was not going at all like planned. This mysterious ship seemed to have developed countermeasures to the Cruor's energy draining technology in a matter of minutes. But that was impossible, wasn't it? Not only that, but it also fired missiles which could take down a ship's shields in no time at all. And they had already seen how effective that green laser was. It was definitely not the standard X-Ray laser.<p>

Durock looked over his tactical options quickly. The damage they had been able to inflict on that giant...Cube, didn't seem to have affected it in the least. It had already proven it could take a Bhaalgorn intact, so they had less options that he would have liked. His heart sank as he knew what he needed to do. "Sound the retreat," he ordered.

"Yes commodore," said his first officer.

Durock sighed to himself, then said a blessing for those who had been lost as the remaining ships fled for the area's gate.

* * *

><p>The Queen watched as the remaining ships fled the battle. They had gained some useful tactical information, and their escape would be no major loss. The databanks said that this group was a pirate organization, who probably wouldn't be listened to even if they were telling the truth.<p>

"Do not pursue," she ordered. "Finish assimilation of the battleship, recover anything we can from the wreckage, then resume our travel to Sansha's Nation. This time, we will bode no interference, but they should have learned their lesson by now."

The Borg ships sat motionless in space, cold, calculating, planning, as the drones continued their activity.

* * *

><p><strong>Gallente-Caldaran DMZ<strong>

"Engines are ready to begin chronometric particle emission on your mark Captain," said Geordi over the inter-ship communications.

The Enterprise sat floating in the Gallente-Caldaran demilitarized zone as they prepared to create a temporal vortex that they hoped would return them home. They had returned to the place of their arrival in the hopes that the space-time fabric in this region would be weaker due to the previous warping, making it easier for them to create a stable vortex. Two concord vessels floated a safe distance away from the area that was going to be bombarded with chronometric particles, as they observed the proceedings.

"Mr La Forge, you may begin particle discharge," said Picard.

"Aye Captain." Geordi pushed the activation buttons on the datapad that he held. The hum of the engines changed pitch and the air near the engine began tingling as it discharged chronometric particles at an area away from the ship.

"Particle discharge has been successfully initiated. We should see results in about five minutes," said Geordi as he read some measurements on the datapad.

Worf anxiously paced the bridge. He was tired of being in this universe, and he wanted to get back to the _Defiant_. "Why will it take so long? It took the Borg mere seconds to create their own vortex."

"Yeah, well, we aren't the Borg. We've modified our engines to emit chronometric particles which will create a wormhole that punches through the fabric of spacetime. It needs time to work, since we 're doing this for the first time," explained Geordi.

"Well, at least we're almost home free," commented Riker. "You know, they probably wont believe what happened here."

"I don't know," said Picard, "This is the _Enterprise_ after all."

"True," conceded Riker.

As they waited, it became obvious that something was wrong. Despite the concentration of chronometric particles in one area, the fabric of spacetime was not bending or ripping as Geordi predicted. In fact, it seemed to be doing nothing at all.

"Um, I don't think it's working," said Riker.

"Hold on, hold on," replied Geordi as he dashed across the engine room to another console. "Why isn't this working? The generator is showing adequate output and the antennae are showing directed discharge, but the rift isn't opening."

Picard glanced at Riker. Something going wrong was a situation they were used to. "So why aren't we seeing anything happen?"

"I don't know," said Geordi. "It should be working but it isn't. Give me five minutes to figure it out."

The engine room was bustling with activity as the _Enterprise_ engine crew tried to solve the problem. They tried altering frequencies, dilating the output, and other various methods to create a rift, but the region stayed as unchanged as before. Geordi wouldn't concede deaft though, and kept working as hard as ever.

Finally, Picard bowed to the inevitable. "Geordi, shut it down. It isn't working."

"I can't explain it Captain. Maybe it's the qualities of this region of space. Or maybe we're just going at this whole thing wrong," said Geordi as he worked on the generator diagnostics.

Picard knew that Geordi had done his best to try and get the generator to work, and that any rreason for it;s failure could not be because of him. "We aren't blaming you Geordi. Maybe we just need to accept that this universe doesn't work like ours. Maybe chronometric particles don't work the same way in this universe as they do in ours."

Data turned around in his chair and replied in a scientific , "It is possible captain. But I would not believe that the properties of one specific particle would change in a different reality."

"I agree it is strange Mr Data, but there isn't much we can do about it at this point," said Picard. "Mr La Forge, please deactivate the generator."

"Aye captain," said Geordi as he pushed a few buttons on the engines control console.

The hum from the engine returned to normal and some of the engineers standing around flexed their fingers as the tingling left them.

"Generator is offline, normal operations have been restored captain," said Geordi as he tapped off his datapad.

"Very good Mr La Forge, you may return to normal duties," said Picard.

"So what do we do next," asked Worf as he started pacing again.

"Well, unless Geordi can come up with something else or we get the Borg vortex generator, we have to face the fact that we are stuck in this universe. And as much as you may not like it, we can't go alone here. If the Borg rear their head, then we will need allies. And the best nation I can see to help us is Concord. We don't want to get involved in the factional infighting that takes place here." Picard thought for a minute, and then knew what they were going to do. "Helm, set a course for Concord Command. Warp 5."

Worf muttered to himself as he left the bridge "Excellent. Let us join an organization which merely wants to control us and the technology that we possess."

The stars turned blue around them as the _Enterprise _leapt into hyperspace.


End file.
